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"Yes, It Was a Bad Thing" By Ace

Yes, It Was a Bad Thing

When a team is struggling, the Coach usually wants them to focus on the game ahead to avoid a loss. When a team is struggling, it seems like a good idea for the players to get rest, and practice – to avoid most outside contacts, to become even closer to their teammates so the bump in the road can be overtaken. For Josh Howard, this wasn’t the case.

On April 26, the Dallas Mavericks were down two games to none in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs. They were coming back home for Game Three, where all focus should be. It wasn’t an elimination game, but everyone except the Boston Red Sox knows how hard it is to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Mavericks coach (at the time) Avery Johnson had set out a list of rules for the players before the playoffs. Rules such as “No parties, late nights, limit distractions,” that idea should be received. For most players, it was, but for a selected few and a select individual – it wasn’t.

“Think before you speak.” Ahhh, the oh so famous line. A very logical one at that – one I continue to fail over and over and over again. But I can assure you, I am not alone. I know this for a fact because one Dallas Mavericks failed to follow that helpful hint.

The Michael Irvin Show made its debut this past January and has instantly become a therapeutic office for athletes.  Irvin’s show is on ESPN 103.3 FM Radio in Dallas. In its first tier of shows, there has already been a cast of athletes on the show that has hosted Adam “Pacman” Jones. Pacman come on to spill his feelings – all of them. The former Tennessee Titan told Irvin and co-host Kevin Kiley that he had made mistakes and made a strong case to turn his act around. Apparently, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fell for it – or really didn’t care and wanted the talent – because Jones was dealt to the Cowboys soon after the interview. Now, Josh Howard came to confess – too much.

In the 2006-2007 season, Josh Howard had a career year and was a Western Conference all-star – his first appearance in the February Fest. He averaged a stellar 18.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg during that season. In the 07-08 season, it was another hot start for “J-Ho.” This time around his numbers were 19.9 ppg and 7.0 rpg at season’s end. This season also included a 47-point game on December 8 against the Jazz However, as we got toward the trade deadline, Howard began to struggle. He was having family problems as well as back problems- not a good combo. He had a nice game or two in February, but when Jason Kidd arrived, Howard never got into a groove for the rest of the season.

In the first two games of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Josh Howard was, well…horrific. For the eight seed Mavs, Josh Howard was arguably supposed to be the second scoring option for the Mavericks behind Dirk, he was not. Well, to be quite frank, I’ll go into temporary Stephen A. Smith Mode. …

“Kidd! Jason Kidd! This man has become horrendous! He belongs in the weak, weak Eastern Conference. Josh Howard! This man is terrible. He comes out and shoots 28 percent, this man is getting worse! It is a complete waste of my time to talk about the Dallas Mavericks right now!”

Whew! It’s always fun impersonating SAS. Anyhow, while I was doing the impression, I expressed what I felt after watching this team in Round One against the New Orleans Hornets.

On April 26, Josh Howard made his mark. Rumor has it the night before, he called ESPN Radio and said he wanted to talk about a few things: the playoff series, his foundation, and his summer marijuana use. This struck Mavericks nation as a huge surprise and set off a horrible vibe in the league.

Howard resembled a young teenager that has just been caught by his parents for using marijuana.

“Like everybody in the media world, and at this point would know that NBA players do smoke marijuana,” said Josh.  Kevin Kiley and Michael Irvin of the ESPN Radio Show were almost toying with Josh because his answers seemed so immature.

“You realize when you admit to this,” Kiley Started, “that the media, people out there are going to assign the problems that you're having on the court to the fact that you've admitted that you, at times, smoke marijuana, you realize that?”

“Oh, yeah, I understand that.”

“Doesn’t that not bother you?”  The infamous question.

“I know it's not true.” The infamous answer.

It wouldn’t help to continue with this interview, everyone was just astounded that a player struggling so bad, needing to deliver so bad, needing to win his fans back so bad, comes on the local radio show and tells his fans he uses illegal drugs.

Not only was this a dumb move for Howard, it makes the Mavericks look bad. Howard is a key part of this organization. Josh puts a mark on this team and the league.  David Stern can only loose more sleep over. First, he admits to his own use, and then willingly infers other guys around the league do the drug. Like any other NBA player, there are cross-team relationships. Howard might be referring to his buddies in Seattle, New York, Miami, anywhere. Now this just causes a possible investigation by David Stern to look into just how many players are using this drug – or another drug. Stern will probably wait until after the Playoffs, as he should. All fans want right now is to watch this great game as it unravels toward an NBA Champion.

Josh Howard struggled in the Playoffs and was center of attention in a bad way. Luckily, he had other teammates like Jerry Stackhouse that struggled just as bad as him and drew attention away from him. But as the Mavericks look to move some pieces, it may be tough to move the guy labeled around the league as –

J-Dope.

 

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